Local election officials applaud election law changes

Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux stands in front of the early voting location at the Shalimar Annex.

DEVON RAVINE / Daily News

By TOM McLAUGHLIN / Daily News

Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 08:11 PM.

Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux is tickled that the Florida Legislature voted this year to give him and his peers across the state flexibility in establishing early voting hours.

He’s also flabbergasted it took a decade to do so.

“I’m very pleased, finally. We’ve only been asking for flexibility for about the last 10 years,” Lux said.

Two years ago, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight, a move that led to long lines and waits at polling places in many areas.

With reform clearly necessary, the Legislature this year took the unprecedented step of listening to the elected elections supervisors and not relying so much on the Florida Division of Elections, Lux said.

“Early on, they brought the supervisors of elections into subcommittee meetings to testify and actually listened,” he said. “It was refreshing.”

The resulting legislation will allow counties to decide the number of days — between eight and 14 — during which early ballots can be cast.

It also expanded the minimum hours polls could be open from six to eight (with a maximum 12), thereby “actually increasing the voting time if counties do stay at the minimum,” according to Lux.

Lux said his plan “on big elections” such as those in a presidential year likely will be to stick with a “maximum number of days and a maximum number of hours” to allow as many people as possible to vote early.

“I may hedge my bets on the next gubernatorial election cycle. There’s not usually as big a turnout,” he said.

And in most primary elections “we probably won’t need more than eight” early voting days, he said.

Lux said the new flexibility makes him answerable to the people who elected him if something goes wrong at the polls. He’s OK with that.

Walton County Supervisor of Elections Bobby Beasley said local control of early voting is “a good thing … because we know our needs.”

Like Lux, Beasley said he would gauge days and hours based on the election.

“I don’t know if I’d go to a full 14 days. That’s a full two weeks,” he said. “I might take the option of voting a little longer on the higher turnout elections.”

He said a new election rule he believes will prove valuable is one that limits the number of words on proposed constitutional amendments to 75.

“Long ballots just naturally slow down the process, like dragging a heavy load behind a truck,” he said.

Tappie Villane, Santa Rosa County’s new supervisor of elections, said she has been busy preparing for a special election for the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Clay Ford. She hasn’t had time to follow the Legislature’s progress this session or review changes to early voting rules, she said.

She did think she’d work closely with Lux and David Stafford, Escambia County’s supervisor, to streamline the process.

“If there are things we can do similarly to one another, we can create less confusion for the voters,” she said.

Villane said she’d also consult “interested parties” before implementing changes to the county’s early voting regulations.

Under the previous law, early voting ended the Saturday before a Tuesday election. That stymied a tradition called “Souls to the Polls” started by black churches.

According to Okaloosa County NAACP President Sabu Williams, the idea was to have church members go together following services to cast their ballots.

“It was all about participation and turnout, which is what I think is something clearly we would want: participation in the election process,” he said.

He said with this year’s election reforms, “Souls to the Polls” will be re-established and, hopefully, expanded.

“It’s always been a ritual in African American communities,” he said. “It’s my hope it becomes less a racial thing and more a Christian or religious thing.”

Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux is tickled that the Florida Legislature voted this year to give him and his peers across the state flexibility in establishing early voting hours.

He’s also flabbergasted it took a decade to do so.

“I’m very pleased, finally. We’ve only been asking for flexibility for about the last 10 years,” Lux said.

Two years ago, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight, a move that led to long lines and waits at polling places in many areas.

With reform clearly necessary, the Legislature this year took the unprecedented step of listening to the elected elections supervisors and not relying so much on the Florida Division of Elections, Lux said.

“Early on, they brought the supervisors of elections into subcommittee meetings to testify and actually listened,” he said. “It was refreshing.”

The resulting legislation will allow counties to decide the number of days — between eight and 14 — during which early ballots can be cast.

It also expanded the minimum hours polls could be open from six to eight (with a maximum 12), thereby “actually increasing the voting time if counties do stay at the minimum,” according to Lux.

Lux said his plan “on big elections” such as those in a presidential year likely will be to stick with a “maximum number of days and a maximum number of hours” to allow as many people as possible to vote early.

“I may hedge my bets on the next gubernatorial election cycle. There’s not usually as big a turnout,” he said.

And in most primary elections “we probably won’t need more than eight” early voting days, he said.

Lux said the new flexibility makes him answerable to the people who elected him if something goes wrong at the polls. He’s OK with that.

Walton County Supervisor of Elections Bobby Beasley said local control of early voting is “a good thing … because we know our needs.”

Like Lux, Beasley said he would gauge days and hours based on the election.

“I don’t know if I’d go to a full 14 days. That’s a full two weeks,” he said. “I might take the option of voting a little longer on the higher turnout elections.”

He said a new election rule he believes will prove valuable is one that limits the number of words on proposed constitutional amendments to 75.

“Long ballots just naturally slow down the process, like dragging a heavy load behind a truck,” he said.

Tappie Villane, Santa Rosa County’s new supervisor of elections, said she has been busy preparing for a special election for the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Clay Ford. She hasn’t had time to follow the Legislature’s progress this session or review changes to early voting rules, she said.

She did think she’d work closely with Lux and David Stafford, Escambia County’s supervisor, to streamline the process.

“If there are things we can do similarly to one another, we can create less confusion for the voters,” she said.

Villane said she’d also consult “interested parties” before implementing changes to the county’s early voting regulations.

Under the previous law, early voting ended the Saturday before a Tuesday election. That stymied a tradition called “Souls to the Polls” started by black churches.

According to Okaloosa County NAACP President Sabu Williams, the idea was to have church members go together following services to cast their ballots.

“It was all about participation and turnout, which is what I think is something clearly we would want: participation in the election process,” he said.

He said with this year’s election reforms, “Souls to the Polls” will be re-established and, hopefully, expanded.

“It’s always been a ritual in African American communities,” he said. “It’s my hope it becomes less a racial thing and more a Christian or religious thing.”